OPINION
CONTENTS
Americans' Support
For Israel Is Constant
MITCHELL G. BARD
0
ne of the constant re-
frains of the last two
years has been that
American support for Israel is
eroding. Every time a public
opinion poll contains a result
that represents a decline from
a prior survey, the Chicken
Littles begin to shout that the
sky has indeed fallen. The
truth is, however, that
American sympathy toward
Israel today is at about the
same level it has historically
been since 1967.
Friends of Israel have a
misperception about the
popularity of the Jewish
state. They seem to believe
that in the good old days,
The highest level
was 56 percent
after the Six-Day
War. Despite
intifada, last
August's level was
50 percent.
before Shamir or Begin or set-
tlements or whatever,
Americans all loved Israel. It
isn't so.
The most reliable indicator
of public attitudes is the ques-
tion: "In the Middle East
situation, are your sym-
pathies more with Israel or
the Arab states?" This is the
only question that has been
asked consistently since 1967,
and the answer has typically
been used as a gauge of
Israel's support.
The highest level of sym-
pathy for Israel in 32 Gallup
polls — 56 percent — was
recorded after the Six-Day
War. The last Gallup poll,
taken in August 1989, show-
ed support for Israel at 50 per-
cent. In 83 polls, conducted by
a variety of organizations the
last 23 years, Israel's support
has averaged less than 46 per-
cent. The well-publicized New
York Times poll released
recently showed Israel at 40
percent. The Times compared
this with the results of Roper
polls. Roper has conducted 21
polls since 1973; the average
for Israel is 40 percent.
Thus, support for Israel was
never overwhelming in terms
of the percentage of
Americans who sympathize
with Israel. And why should
Dr. Mitchell G. Bard is a
foreign policy analyst in
Washington, D.C. and editor
of "Near East Report."
it be? Polls also indicate that
few Americans care about the
Middle East or follow events
of the region.
Another measure of Israel's
strength has been its margin
over the Arabs. The Times'
poll trumpeted the fact that
sympathy for the Arabs was
19 percent, only a little less
than half that of Israel. Well,
sympathy for the Arabs has
oscillated between 14 percent
and 18 percent for the last
two years. A soon-to-be-
released poll will show,
moreover, that support for the
Arabs is only in the single
digits. Support for the Arabs
has increased from the near-
ly non-existent levels of years
ago, but this improvement
hardly represents a shift
toward American support for
the Arab cause.
More importantly, the pre-
Iraq increase in sympathy for
the Arabs has not caused a
decline for Israel.
It is important to note that
polls on the Middle East are
extremely volatile. Support
for Israel has frequently drop-
ped in response to events. In
a 1982 poll, taken shortly
after Sabra and Shatilla, sup-
port for Israel dropped to its
lowest level ever and doom-
sayers said Americans were
abandoning Israel. But the
result was a function of the
timing of the poll; conse-
quently, support rebounded in
the next poll.
The Times acknowledged
its results were a reflection of
the "turbulent relations be-
tween the Israeli government
and the Bush Administra-
tion."
One could evaluate dif-
ferent questions and still
reach the same conclusion.
Yes, there is sympathy for the
Palestinians (and why
shouldn't there be?), but when
compared directly with Israel
the latter has a more than
two-to-one advantage.
Foreign aid is frequently
said to be the least popular
program in Congress; yet, 61
percent in the Times' poll said
aid to Israel should remain
the same or be increased.
Given the budget deficit, this
figure is astonishingly high.
It also represents an increase
in support for aid since 1988.
Americans, like Israelis, are
split on the territorial issue.
Americans are rarely asked,
however, to evaluate various
options, so it is not surprising
that a plurality (still no ma-
jority) is sympathetic to the
idea of a Palestinian
Continued on Page 12
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7:39 p.m.
Friday, September 7, 1990
Sabbath ends September 8 8:39 p.m.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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